26

September

TWENTYTEN

1009 HRS

Vel’s Mafia & Taiwanary Day 4 (Part 2)- Dan Shui

I'm back folks!

Its a Sunday, and I feeling a bit of Monday Blues here. Boo!
Hope you guys aren't feeling this way,
because we shouldn't let this tiny bit of blues to spoil the remaining time of our previous weekend.

And why not let me share my BB-MM?
Which is a Bea's Breakfast for Motivational Monday. Hahahahahaha,

Let me share my own recipe for a breakfast I made last week!


I thought it looks yummy cuz of the strawberries,
and you can get this up within just minutes!

Its in fact very healthy food, (as recommended from my mother)
and its Strawberry Oat Meal with Flakes.
Apparently Oat is a very good source of fibre,
and girls, we should start eating it as meals because Oat helps dieting! 
I researched and found this explanation for it…..

"Not only it is a delicious dish for breakfast,
it is also a dish that helps in reducing your hunger,
thereby helping you stick to your diet plan.
This is because the fiber in oats forms gels to fill up.
And it is these gels that delay the emptying of your stomach so that you don’t feel hungry quickly. "

Easy peasy, low cost and healthy,
you just need to get:
1. Instant Oatmeal from your usual NTUC, Cold Storage etc.
2. Whatever ingredients that you want to add into the oatmeal porridge.

To keep it as healthy as possible,
I added it my favourite strawberries
and also sweetened cornflakes to give it a slight sweet and crunchy taste!

* *

My first time at MBS was actually attending Vel dear's 23rd Birthday at a HUGE SUITE!

 

It was absolutely awesome because there was a theme and everyone was extremely spontaneous about it.
Love themed parties and that's always the highlight of the gathering.

If you realised, the theme is MAFIAS and recalling the night,
I totally kudos to everyone for going all out for Vel.


Even Bryan too… this is hilarious.
Rach was asking Bryan to pose with me with the flowers on his hand,
and the black flower clip on his HAIR! :p

Look at how Mafia he went, (the tattoo stocking on the arm). Coolbeans.


Here's titus and lihui and….. fred's bag that i couldn't resist carrying it because it looks too unique.


The birthday specs!


Doing the Lovebonito poses! hahahaha

Here comes cake cutting session…


We had cups with our own names.


Uncle and Auntie was totally spontaneous too!


And we tried out the new camera of Rach!
Look at how it captures all of us.

Hope Vel had a blast that night,
and It was a fabulous party which i love every single bit of it! :)

* * *

I think I am kinda into TOGAS recently,
and unknowingly, I was browsing through my pictures and I was almost in different togas for different occasions.
But 3 words- I LOVE TOGAS!

 
White and black bandaged skirt which can be easily transformed into party outfit, or work outfit.
Just a blazer or cardigan on and you are perfect for work!


And my next favourite colour is actually RED.
My phone cover is red, room walls are red, and nails are red.
Try red it rocks! :p

Convertible dresses are also a favourite,
you can wear it in between lesser intervals and in many different kinds of way too!


i love the M-shaped black tube that comes with this piece,
Quality is definitely there, and off with some simple accessories and done!

If you were going to ask where did i get these lovely pieces,
these above 3 pieces are specially from The Design Closet!  :)

* * *

Here's Taiwan Day 4, and this entry marks the end of Day 4 too.

We visited Dan Shui for the next half of the day.
This place is like the end of the MRT stations, (something like Jurong Station).

We were greeted with different kind of view,
more towards the nature side with the sea and all,
and guess what?! I heard JAY CHOU has a cafe there!

But we only found out after when we got back,
and didn't have a chance to try it. :(

Without knowing what's actually good there,
except for the famous YU SONG (fish crackers) and Tie Dan (Iron eggs).
Got a map and decided to check out dan shui lao jie.

Woo, i love this kinda streets in Taiwan,
whereby you find a lot of small carts here and there,
and sometimes chance upon real unique stuff.


This ice cream stall has certainly great business.
Looking at the queue, we had one each too.



But it was disappointing!
Its not rich and creamy as the colour looks,
but more of plain soft ice with minimal flavour. :(
Apple told me we should try it at Ximending though.


Try this is you by-pass the stall, its pink guava and extremely thirst quenching!


They have Naraya too, but well, for Naraya, there's only one place- BANGKOK!


Chilled ones are awesome!


A big bulldog.


Spent a while shopping here for accessories!


Wee? Singapore's delight is here?
But nah, i don't like durians!

It was drizzling and we went to seek shelter at this exquisite looking dessert shop.

They have limited choices,
and it seems like each and every piece is made specially.
We tried these two:


Banana Chocolate Cake which was simply delicious!
Each thin layer of chocolate crepe has real rich chocolatey taste!


And an ice-cream crepe!

The night came shortly after,
and feeding on all the fried food for days,
we figured out its time to have some fishball soup.



and oh gosh, if you are going to dan shui, please visit this shop! <3

Poots needs to get sour plum back for her mom,
and this owner offered to take a picture for us out of sudden,
and then we realised straight away- he's using tourists (us) for marketing!


Bought a cheap but really cute umbrella.
Love it to bits.


The night market.


And after a long day of walking,
Poots concussed while we trained back to our hotel.

Stay tuned for the last couple of days of Taiwan! :)

CREDITS TO THE DESIGN CLOSETS:
TOGA WHITE/BLACK DRESS
RED CONVERTIBLE DRESS
CHERYL COLE'S INSPIRED B/W DRESS

23

September

TWENTYTEN

0709 HRS

Taiwanary Day 4 (Part 1) – Xi Men Ding

Wendys has one of the best baked potatoes around.
I never knew they sell the whole baked potatoes as side dishes and boy,
it comes in 4 different flavours and I tried 3 flavours before,
I must say it's real good!



A effortless classic simple blue dress with the unique designs at the hip and front area,
specially given by Pearlavish, just perfect for a Tuesday night in town.

Matched it with a pair of wedges to have a more casual outlook,
but by all means to wear a pair of heels and it would be just right for work.

Love dresses because they are easy and convenient to wear,
and usually a simple belt or necklace will do the trick of getting you more dressed up.


Did i tell you i love redddddd?
This dress has got to be one of the best buys at pearlavish too.


Manicure on a wednesday,
and I realised I can't stand the slightest defect on the nails and have been frequently getting my nails done.
Not a good sign, I would say…

* * *

As continued from Taiwan Day 3,
here's day 4 for us and it was a kinda different one because we actually went further from Taipei.


The usual spot for photos again.


A don't know why solemn looking Shawn.
Perhaps he waited for us too long to get ready, hahahaha,


I kinda like these two photos, very candid!!
Yes yes, shawn you are a good photographer.


Never fail to get a cup of Bubble tea to kick start the day.


If you are a fan of bubble tea, go to KOI and try their Hazelnut Milk Tea or Oolong Milk Tea, superb!


The graffiti man who got quite a huge pool of audiences watching at ximending.

We decided to treat ourselves to better food than street food on this very day,
and settled on this Tamago Ya, which is known as "DAN DAN WU"  restaurant right smack at the entrance of Ximen MRT exit.


Place looking posh and good.


Of course, what's a good place without photos? :p


our food, pastas and western.


I have to give two thumbs up for their quality of food!
Definitely a place where I would go again for lunch in future if i go back to Taiwan,
Surprisingly, prices are not that expensive there as well.


And here's a goodbye to this place and stay tuned for the next part of the day!

CREDITS TO PEARAVISH:
BLUE V-NECK DRESS
RED PUFFED SLEEVE DRESS

A month into school and I need to run faster!

Taking more modules than I should so that I can graduate faster,
so I can totally sense the sleepless nights coming along the way.

I caught a few movies recently, expandables and step-up 3,
and both were great though I prefer step up 3.
Just a bit on the post-movie star gaze for a while,
I thought the two main leads look real good in the movie,

Rick Malambri & Sharni Vinson


Rick Malambri is married, and his wife is gorgeous. :)

On a side note, guess what's in town…
I got myself an IPHONE 4!

Weeeeee, finally, after a long wait from the 3Gs to 4.
 

I got myself a black 32G black one,
but I kinda like the white one though.

And to be honest, the reception is kinda a problem,
though i do hear some mentioned that it works fine, but some mentioned otherwise.
But they said the case helped so I have downloaded the "case program" from the app store,
and got myself a free case. in case you haven, go get it now!!

Guess what's in town next?
Here're some summer outfits that are love for the weekends!


Absolutely a pleasure to chill over coffee on a afternoon with your laptop, surfing & relaxing.
Yellow summery dress that brightens up the afternoon too,
love the layered design at the skirt part and the complimentary belt (im a fan of belts!),
all thanks to The Tinsel Rack. :)


Available at The Tinsel Rack too, Jackets and blazers are no doubt the "hottest" thing on earth,
yes, i meant hottest favourites. ;)
To-die-for Khaki colour still, yes yes YES!

* * *

Back to Taiwan, here's the Day 3 of our trip.

All dressed up at the start of the day and ready to tour the place.
Our itinerary was planned to go to Zhong Xiao Fu Xing and Shi Da Ye Shi (Shi Da Night Market),
which is near that area.


Shawn commented that poots looks like bob-the-builder,
and I thought that was cute, poots!
 

Yay, love the headband i got from asos!


The geeky specs and the hat which poots got from shi lin night market.


A picture to tweet and off we go!


Tweeeeeting.


Our usual spot for the first batch of outdoor photos.


As we walked to Xi Men Station.

Our almost daily routine there was to get a huge cup of bubble tea to start the day.
Passing through the hustle and bustle of ximending streets to reach 50 lan.


California Fitness


Just like KOI, waiting for our drinks.


Satisfied girls.

We took the train to Taipei Main Station before changing to the other line,
and conveniently, it was only a couple of stops to reach Zhong Xiao Fu Xing from there.

 

This place is known for all the high-class shopping malls,
such as the SOGO (which is like Singapore's Takashimaya),
and accompanied by restaurants and shops.


Walking towards SOGO
 

We took the outdoor route than the underpass to see the streets.


Hang Ten looks real classy there.


Spotted SOGO!


The only picture i have of the inside of SOGO.
Was informed that pictures are not allowed there,
and well, it looks just like Takashimaya,
but there are a couple of brands which are not available in Singapore like Jill Stuart Cosmetics.
 

Chanel, no girls will ever reject Chanel.

We decided to have a good lunch instead of street food this very day,
and settled at Ding Tai Feng after hearing that it is way better than Singapore's.


 


 


 

 
Food was good but I think that the standard of theirs and Singapore's is comparable,
not much difference but price was quite worth it given the amount of dishes we ordered.
NT 1041 = SGD 45 for the three of us.


We went over to TAI DA, which is the place where the Tai Da University is located at.
It is known for the place where all the students go for shopping and hang out after school!
 

Bicycles (and motorcycles), definitely the most common mode(s) of transport.


Heading over to the traffic junction to cross over.

We didn't spend much time there as what we saw there were available everywhere,
such as the night markets and all.

So we decided to  hop over to the Shi Da Night Market instead,
since night markets are one of the highlights of Taiwan.
We reached and this was the first shop we saw, looking good..

 
but prices of clothes are exorbitant! Way too expensive. -.-

 
Walking into the main part of the streets
 

weeee, here comes the shopping and food spreee

I would say this night market has more guy stuff,
and shawn bought a lot more shoes, berms and tops here.
While waiting for Shawn…

<3

Our dinner for the night.

all the barbeque and fried food,
some tasted good but in overall, not one of the best bbq food though.


Something like ice kachang,
but its filled with two choices of our fillings, nata de coco, and pearls. :)

And it was home sweet home.

Cheers to bonitochico's 4th birthday bash,
and the launch of a new branding called Lovebonito.

How time flies from BC's 3rd birthday bash and till the 4th that just happened at Zirca,
and how overwhelming the turn out was,
also, the celebration for another year of hardwork and success for the three dear girls, Jie, Vel and Rach.
Yet another blessed year of witnessing all of those and being proud of who they are today. :)

Some behind the scenes pictures..

Balloons filled with love of air one by one.



A huge pool of goody bags, one for everyone!


Rehearsal in the morning.


Hair and Make up by Salon Vim, Loreal respectively.


 

Cool stuff.


Waiting for the show.


Daniel Ong as the emcee


The crowd


The finale
 

A picture with Jiayi and her friend jozique after the event. :)

Pictures at the backstage!

With tingzhi, wens and bel, mad gorgeous girls
 

Jerraine babe from Loreal.
 

Gary & Fiona from Salon Vim,
thanks to them for the awesome hairstyle!


I know every guy would die to stand in my place here. teehee


Ever lovely, ever gorgeous.


muaks


 
Post event- dinner @ dempsey.

The efficient, smart and ever so encouraging helpers!


<3


more <3

* * *

[Continued...]

By the time we decided to leave Wu Fen Pu,
it was already about 9 plus at night. (WFP closes around 12)

Extremely tired from all the walking,
everybody that knows that after visitng wufenpu,
its just a stone throw to Rao He Night Market.


The junction to cross over to Rao He Night Market as we follow the road from Wufenpu.


Walking straight up and you will spot a temple.


Raohe Night Market is just beside the temple! on the left.


 
I personally prefer ShiLin Night Market as it is filled with shopping and food.
As for Raohe Night Market,
I would think its focus will be more on food and souvenirs.

We needed to find a place to sit so we ended up at this Tofu Pudding Shop.
They sell ice desserts like Mango ices, red bean etc,
and I love how generous they are with the fillings!


 

And being so Singaporean, we ordered one bowl of mango ice (yumz!)
and went to buy a lot of different street food to complete the meal. lol


Ma Jiang Mian.


Pig Organ soup


I love the Ji Pa from this store! NT50 = SGD $2.20
For a huge serving and the best part is we can choose the seasoning.

Would recommend you to ask the uncle to match the seasoning for you,
we tried the first one with their recommended seasoning and it was so good.
And we ordered another Ji Pa with Curry Seasoning,
and it wasn't at all tasty.  :(

As much as the MRT is really convenient around,
but we love taking the bus instead,
comfy and able to sit through the whole journey.


bus 276 to go back to Ximending from Raohe Night Market.

 

Reached, after about 20 minutes.

 
Ximending at Night.

It was a thursday, and we actually planned a night to visit their club.
So we arranged for this very night to go to their famous clubs- either 18 or Luxy.

Decided to pop over to 18 for clubbing,
we played dressed up and dressed in our loots from Taiwan
and spent 2 hours getting prepared.

And finally..


Shawn didn't wear the spects out, i'm sure.
 
We sat a cab there, and amazingly,
cab rates ain't that expensive there as I thought.
For our average journey around taipei area,
cab fare is about 100 NT to 180 NT (which is SGD $4.50 to SGD $10)

The cab dropped us in front of this other club called Lava.

We were looking hard for club 18 but couldn't find it,
and ended up walking one big round back to the same spot again.

The great thing is we discovered a small cart selling Taiwan Sausages!


 


Just like the sausages sold outside zouk,
the taiwan sausages were damn tasty!
 

We asked around and found 18 after a while,
its actually located at the 2nd level (no wonder!) of this building.
And to recognize the building, you can spot for this barcode signboard (see below),
and just walk into the lobby to take the lift up.


In the lift..

AND GUESS WHAT?!

Zzzzzzzzzz.
18 is not opened on Thursdays!!!
 

We were disappointed and wanted to switch to Luxy,
but realised that clubs in generally are not opened on thursdays,
not even for early drinks or so.

They only operate on Wednesdays (ladies night too), Fridays and Saturdays.

We hopped on to a cab again in search for some places to go for the night,
and the cab driver actually introduced us this supper place to go.


Located at Ba De Road.

 
Opened 24 hours.
Also located beside 50 lan bubble tea shop.
 


Upstairs.


Beef noodles soup


Ma Jiang and Za Jiang Mian mixed.
Their famous dish is their Ma Jiang Mian.


Wanton Soup.


Love this! Da Chang Tou, Pig intestines.

 
We looked absolutely out of place at this shop,
imagine us all dressed up (very) and sat there eating supper for the night. ;\


And it was back to the hotel for a brand new next day. :)

* * *

Calling out to those girls who wished to have your hair permed or sraightened,
here's an absolutely fantastic deal for you,
proudly by Salon Vim. :)

313 @ Somerset Orchard Road
#04-07/08/09
Singapore
, Singapore, 238895
68847757 / 68847767

24

August

TWENTYTEN

1108 HRS

TEE Boxx & Taiwanary Day 2 (Part 1)

 

If you find that the above logo looks familiar,
or you somewhat seen before,
yes, it's TEE BOXX!

You must be thinking now what is TEE Boxx,
what do they do,
where are they from,
and that's why I am here for. ;)

For a start, here's a hint on what TEE Boxx does,
as well as something exciting planned for you specially in the next few weeks!

Yeah bobs,
TEE Boxx is started up last year by two enterprising and inspiring entrepreneurs here locally in Singapore,
and since then, they have been actively working on their business model – Events.
They aim to bring enthusiastic and passionate hobbyists to every event,
and believes that every of its clients will have a blast of a time with them.

With TEE Boxx hosting and managing events just for you,
they have in fact, organized an upcoming FLEA MARKET – Gathering of Stars for everyone,
their first ever event right smack at one of the hottest locations in town, the supperclub.

Its not called Gathering of Stars for nothing!
Tee boxx has specially invited star bloggers to go down to the flea to sell their own items too,
and weeee, I bet it would be really cool to see them,
and remember to bring along your cameras to snap a picture or two!

And did i mention to you that they have a common goal?
Which is making each and every event a huge BANG!, together with the best responses and media attraction.

if you haven been to supperclub,
here's a sneak peek of what's in for you,
imagine yourself in one of the stalls in here (see below).

or here…

and here.


GETTING EXCITED?!

and you must be thinking of when are you getting your Ipad, or Iphone 4 now,
since you are clearing your wardrobe or house in a matter of weeks. :p

Here are more information:

Event Name
Gathering of Stars!
Venue
Supperclub, Odeon Towers,
331 North Bridge Road #02-01/08, Singapore 188720
Date & Time
11 September 2010 (Saturday), 11am – 8pm

Price: $65 per booth

Join their mailing list / / (state upon registration) to enjoy $2 off.
Goodie bag includes
Customized TEE Box Lanyard, Faceshop Face Mask to be given to all vendors
*More info to be updated.
 

I will in fact, be having my own lil booth there selling my pre-loved items!
Really need to clear my wardrobe and other items,
and isn't it cool if we can buy each other items and walk home with new stuff?! :p

PROMO: You can enjoy $3 off when quoting "Beatricetan"

VISIT FOR MORE INFORMATION!

* * *

And recently, I am once again hooked on Togas,
i always think toga is a minimalist outfit- a kind that shows but not too much,
and what's great about this piece that Pearlavish gave me is the one shoulder tee.
I kinda like the bandage & drappy part as well.

Other than casual dresses, formal dresses which we will need in our wardrobe.
Black is the classic colour to go ;)

 

* * *

TAIWAN DAY 2 – XIMENDING, WU FEN PU (PART 1)

The three of us have a habit of taking pictures before leaving the hotel each and every day in our Taiwan Trip.
Playing dressing up is one of the highlights of an overseas trip too, don't you agree? :p

  

Not just that, but exiting the hotel is another hot spot for photos.
I like the way the plants are hanging outside and the alley feel,
it would have been much better if the constructions at the back were done and removed.
 
  

Just like the first day, we have to walk to the Ximen Station, which we will pass by all these places…


 


just by looking at this picture, i know we are nearing the bubble tea shop that I like,
Ching Shin Fu Chuan Tea Station, 清心福全 !


Their normal milk tea is awesome, but if you are a huge fan of milk teas again,
you can try hazelnut or caramel milktea, thumbs up for these two drinks!
 

I can totally imagine how much calories am i gaining each day,
We wanted to just have a lunch, and remember the other bubble tea chain (50嵐 which is KOI in Sg?),
we spotted that shop finally in the ximending maze of shops after trying to locate it since we touched down in Taiwan.
Being the greedy girls, we sure have to get a cup each!

Considering the cup we just had while walking over,
and a second cup within the next half hour.
Gosh, carbs carbs carbs,
I officially concluded that bubble tea is definitely poots and my ultimate all-time-favourite drink.

 

Look at how excited we were to locate it!


Look at the 34324934923 amount of pearls = carbs!

 

Our lunch was planned to visit and try the famous Ah Zong Mian Xian,
I bet everyone of you heard of this before,
this mian xian chain is extremely famous in Taiwan and has countless of shops around.

 
Small bowl for 45 NT = SGD $1.90 only!!!!
Big bowl for 60 NT = SGD $2.60

oh boy, where can we find ultra delicious mian xian at this price around?!

 


This is the small bowl and its enough for one person generally.
The special part of this mian xian is that they don't use oyster, but cooked with pig intestines (I LOVE IT!!!).


You get to immerse in their culture, :p

Our next plan of the day was to visit WuFenPu 五分埔,
the well-knowned place for wholesale clothes or rather,
clothes at utmost affordable prices.

A tip that many of my friends who came back from Taiwan told me that,
I should visit wu fen pu for the first few days of my trip,
and shop there instead before shopping at the rest of the other areas.
Due to the fact that prices there for clothes are more reasonable,
and other areas sell the same stuff too.

From the research that we have done, we actually took a train to Yong Chun Station to go there.
But apparently, that is a wrong stop to alight!
The correct stop would be Hou shan pi station. (Thanks caleen!)

I guess many people alighted at the wrong stop previously,
so there actually have a useful slip of paper to tell us how to go to Wufenpu from Yong Chun.

Can take either bus 232, 281 or 284.

 
Did i tell you i prefer taking bus than any other mode of public transport?

And the bus ride there is real affordable, its standardized 15NT = SGD $0.65 for all trips (from what i know),
and the bus ride is really comfortable and properly air-conditioned.
The difference is that we have to pay for the bus ride only when we alight.

Finally we arrived!

I didn't manage to snap a lot of pictures here because we were busy shopping away.
Teehee, spent quite a bit here, but clothes are average about $8-15!
Of course, there will be pricier items which are of better quality.


We spent an hour plus in this shop.


Red couch for shawn to rest and being the Mr Nice, he waited for us to shop :p

 
Leaving the shop with satisfaction!

Will be back for Rao He Night Market and more!
Stay tuned for the next.